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The prime has been selected by the US Air Force to enhance its RQ-4B Global Hawk fleet.
The United States Air Force has awarded a contract to Northrop Grumman for the provision of dynamic inflight rerouting for the RQ-4B Global Hawk.
The software update, referred to as Dynamic Mission Operations (DYNAMO), aims to enhance the aircraft’s ability to provide critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data to geographic combatant commanders.
The DYNAMO capability is tipped to enable operators to respond to changing real world conditions during a mission through the in-flight rerouting capability.
The update is scheduled to be fielded in 2023.
“DYNAMO is part of a series of Global Hawk modernisation efforts, including the Ground Station Modernisation Program, that will reinforce the weapon system’s ability to monitor and deter near-peer and peer threats around the globe,” Jane Bishop, vice-president and general manager, autonomous systems at Northrop Grumman, said.
“These upgrades will make Global Hawk even more valuable in a future Joint-All Domain Command and Control environment.”
The RQ-4B Block 30 Global Hawk was recently deployed by the United States Air Force for an advanced battle management system exercises for the United States European Command.
The UAV was used to provide high-altitude, long-endurance support, delivering near real-time on-demand data to monitor the battlespace.
This marked a step further in the rollout of the next-generation UYAV technology, following the platform’s modernisation earlier this year.
Northrop Grumman completed the first flight for the Global Hawk Ground Station Modernisation Program at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
[Related: USAF deploys Global Hawk for ABMS exercise]
